Art of Arabia I Lattafa Pride

Hi, I have an original sample of Imagination, a bottle of Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes Eau de Parfum and a bottle of "Art of Arabia I | Lattafa / لطافة". Let the games begin.

I don't like to copy-paste the same text for all three fragrances, this is the one I had the most hope for, so here's the "long version" so you have another, different opinion to confuse you. :P

Imagination
The original unfortunately remains unbeaten, neither of these two dupes surpasses it in terms of fragrance or bottle, only the price/performance probably beats both. But LV is also expensive...
For me, this fragrance is quite linear and surprisingly long-lasting for a fresh scent. During a test, I sprayed it on in the evening and still smelled it on my arm the next day at work. Not in the air but still very noticeable on my arm. I don't think I need to describe much here. The differences between the two dupes are more relevant. But I still want to and will keep it as short as possible. x)
Imagination is a strikingly interesting freshie, it is fresh, aquatic, but has its own spiciness that I don't know from any other freshie. It is absolutely not comparable to a typical designer blue fragrance, there is nothing blue, shower gel-heavy, classically masculine here. This is a beautiful, pure, clean water with a few fine, high-quality ingredients in it. A few herbs, a few subtle summer fruits. Compared to the bottomless, it somehow reminds me of something along the lines of Sprite, it has a tasty, refreshing citrus, is very fresh, slightly herbaceous and minty. For me, it's also somewhat reminiscent of the Acqua di Giò pour Homme Eau de Toilette series. There are enough descriptions of the fragrance, it's really beautiful, it fits!
"Art of Arabia I | Lattafa / لطافة"
I don't own the bottle, but the pictures are enough to get an impression. It's okay, I would like it more if the lower part of the tower didn't stick out so much, but it's all still visually fine. I just think the lid is terrible, I like the classic design of the Zara more or the very cool design of the LV. Here the lid looks like a car key if you squint a bit. A terribly unsatisfying drop up there. But the bottle doesn't matter in the end, because of the price of the original, only the fragrance has to be right. Does it do that? When the bottle arrived and I smelled it between the lid and the spray head, I was overjoyed that I liked this fragrance so much and that it was close enough to the original for me personally. The first few sprays on my arm and the scent in the air confirmed it. Such a delicious, fruity fragrance. Not very sweet-fruity, this one isn't really very sweet. But fresh and fruity, on a par with Volvic iced tea water? Do you know that? Ginger, citrus, tea, a little mint. That's what I smell the most. Delicious, refreshing, really good and a little stronger in the ginger/citrus range than the original, I would say. For me, it lacks the slightly herbaceous notes of LV. And the citrus from the LV smelled better, as if the LV had high-quality citrus in it and they cheated with syrup. That also makes it a little sweeter and fruitier here. The whole thing stayed like this for 30min - 1h, then the slightly sweet, fruity disappeared and a more serious citrig remained. More boring, less playful, less fun, but still absolutely fine and good smelling. You can't go wrong with it. Getting weaker now though. Waited a little longer and unfortunately I smell notes on the drydown that I can't find listed or described anywhere here. Is it just me that smells that? I can smell oriental notes among the citrus residue, not in the air when I sniff my arm. Something along the lines of rose oud but very light? Something about Arabians Tonka immediately popped into my head (I absolutely don't like it). I don't think anyone will smell that in the air, it really only came very close to my nose, but I don't like that kind of oriental scent at all. Rose oud, unfortunately, always has a musty, smelly effect on my nose. Is that due to the manufacturer? Art of Arabia I doesn't last very long; of all three fragrances, I would say that this one has the lowest longevity. This, combined with the strange intermediate notes in the drydown, unfortunately does not make it a worthy alternative for me. It's good as a fun intermediate fragrance in the collection, especially for the top note. In terms of price, however, I would wait and see, as the hype here has unfortunately made it far too expensive. It's not worth it to me. ^^

Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes Eau de Parfum
To be honest, I find the bottle pleasant, simple, therefore not disturbing, quite nice. The lid is unnecessarily cheap but the price here is also very low. I normally like the design, it's just very basic. The bottle here is much easier to access than the AoA. How is the fragrance? It's more linear for me again, at least it doesn't take a negative turn like AoA I did. But this one also has its own twist. You can clearly recognize the Imagination, but there is one note here that is so strong that it really stands out and somewhat obscures the rest of the more beautiful DNA. Is that the tea? Something spicy, synthetically slightly sweet. This one is also a little fruitier, slightly sweeter and more playful than the original, but still nice enough. The rest of the DNA goes in the direction of the AoA top note or Imagination in general, otherwise it's really just this one strong note that stands out and unfortunately seems a little overpowering. In the course and towards the end, it doesn't change much for me, it just becomes weaker, less playful, fruity, sweet and rather more serious, normally citrusy, slightly spicy. The longevity doesn't come close to the original, which is probably only a few hours. But for me, it packs more of a punch than the AoA. At least more imagination DNA, with the AoA only the disturbing thing remains, if I find anything at the end.

So the Art of Arabia I is the hated, evil stepbrother on the inside, but at least he smiles nicely.
Sunrise on the Red Sand Dunes is the neutral cousin, and therefore not directly the brother. You can relate to him less, but you can talk to him, he's not annoying.
And Imagination is the beloved, perfect child. But there's no child benefit for this one and children can be really expensive...
You're probably not doing anything wrong with any of them, just a little more right with one than with the other. If you don't smell the drydown from the AoA like I do, go for it. But it will be unnecessarily more expensive and more difficult to access than the Zara, so always test it beforehand. The original is clearly the best, it doesn't interfere anywhere, smells the best, and the bottle is the best.
Considering the whole scent progression and the price, I'll probably buy a bottle of Zara, the AoA is just overpriced, much harder to access and I don't like its drydown. Zara also lasts me a little longer. I'll buy the Imagination as my own reward for some milestone in my future. :)